November Crimson
by SerenNoir
Summary: As soon as I heard the first shot, I knew immediately what was happening. My second realization was this: Gaara had finally cracked. School Shooting fic. AU


**November Crimson**

**Author: shutupandsing**

**Rating: M**

**Comments: Um, wow. I don't really know what to say for this or how to warn you. This story was actually spurred from a recent accidental suicide at my school (R.I.P. Rob Ward) and the school shooting that took place in Ohio a few weeks ago. Note that this is a Fanfiction involving a school shooting in itself. It's going to push the envelope and possibly offend someone because I'm going to go into detail about the mechanics of the happenings. I apologize greatly if this upsets you but this has become a growing problem and people need to know what is happening due to: bullying, ostracizing, and problems at home. **

**The story itself will be broken into separate parts; a point of view from each person involved. As a whole, this was very difficult for me to write. It required tons of research on bullet wounds and head injuries, not to mention other assortments of morbid and gruesome pictures. I tried to stay true to the series by maintaining the same "victims" that Gaara had injured in the manga. Gaara is the shooter which also proved difficult for me because he is my favorite character and it was challenging for me to send him on a violent rampage, that ultimately did not end well.**

**I hope you enjoy this greatly and learn something beneficial from reading this. This is the second death at my school in the past three weeks. It has got to stop somehow.**

**Disclaimer: I own many things. Naruto is not one of them. The plot line, although, I do own.**

* * *

November 3, 2007

11:44 a.m.

Naruto Uzumaki

Government Literature

I had started throwing my books into my bag before the bell even rang, its high-pitched shrill ushering us all to our next class. I pushed past a huddle of girls lingering near the door, their coos of excitement reaching my ears as they fawned over my Gov. Lit. teacher, Kakashi Hatake. The man's sense of style was a mystery; his personality quirks an even bigger one.

We had ten minutes between classes--enough time for me to throw my shit in my locker and meet up with my two best friends.

Sasuke Uchiha was my long-term rival and a enormous asshole but nonetheless my most special person. Sakura Haruno was a smart, funny cheerleader whom I've had a crush on for quite some time. If only she would like me instead of that Uchiha-teme.

I spot Sakura in the Commons and she waves me over, a visible smile plastered on her face. As she prattles off about the A she made in Calculus, I crane my head to peer down the West Corridor, where I can see Sasuke slowly making his way towards us, talking with Kiba and Lee. Out of habit, as I am often late to the majority of my classes, I glance up at the wall clock.

11:52

Three minutes till we have to be at our next class.

Then I see him.

A small-statured boy with shaggy red hair is standing, stock-still, in the middle of the hall. A 9mm Glock is clutched in a hand that is shaking uncontrollably, flexing fingers wrapping tightly around the handle. That little red second hand on the clock lurches to a complete stop as he raises the weapon and points it dead center at my best friend.

I feel my stomach shudder its way up my throat as I take a tentative step forwards. It feels like someone swung at me with a battle-axe as the deafening sound of a gunshot rings through the hallway.

People are screaming and running by this time and a second shot sounds, followed by the horrifying scream of the person it hit. I dodge forward through the panicked crowd, wanting only to see if Sasuke's all right. He is because he comes barreling towards me at break-neck speed, terrified but uninjured.

"What's happening?" I yell, almost tripping as the gun goes off three more consecutive times.

He looks at me with wide, frightened eyes and I declare, right then and there, something is terribly wrong to get Sasuke this scared.

"Gaara," he murmurs quietly.

But I hear him.

* * *

11:52

Kiba Inuzuka

West Corridor

My first instinct when I'm staring down the barrel of that 9mm was to duck and run. But I do neither as the weapon fires and in my peripheral vision I see Lee stagger back, his shoulder dripping red liquid onto the newly-waxed floor.

When he is thrown back a second time, a scream ripped from his throat, it is then that I hit the floor. I see Sasuke running and tripping and falling in the direction of the Commons and I want to yell and scream at him to come back. To not leave me and Lee there to die, one of us already having been wounded twice.

Lee is moaning and crying next to me, a bloody hand clutched to his even bloodier stomach. My own stomach convulses tightly but I reach over and squeeze the hell out of his free hand.

A trio of shots sound above us, punctuating the screams of the other students with its lethal discharge. I feel warm liquid seep underneath me and for a moment I think I've been shot but I realize it isn't my blood but coming from the other side of me. I turn my head slightly to stare into the bloody deformed face of Shigure, my Physics teacher. His face is practically blown away and he's not breathing.

He's dead.

I curl into a tight ball and pray to God I'm not next for this kid.

God doesn't seem to be listening.

* * *

11:57

Temari Sabaku

Commons

As soon as I heard the first shot, I knew immediately what was happening. I knew the sound of that gun because it was my father who took it out every evening to shoot beer bottles for target practice. My second realization was this: Gaara had finally cracked.

My younger brother had always been a solitary person; probably due to the ostracizing our father put him through since he was old enough to know he was unwanted. Upon his birth, our father took one look at him and claimed the baby wasn't his. Our mother nor he had red hair or pale green eyes. I was too young to argue the fact that auburn hair like his was technically a shade of red.

Gaara went through grade school as a ghost, he never brought friends over to play and he kept himself holed away up in his room, listening to his death metal. When he entered high school with me and Kankuro, we tried to break him out of his shell and get him involved in school-related functions to improve his social skills.

This did not end well as many of his peers labeled him with names such as freak, monster, and loser. As of late, he seemed to have become more angry which often edged out towards depression. So perhaps that was the reason the only thing rushing through my head was "Find him". Fuck all these other kids, my baby brother needs me.

* * *

11:59

Sasuke Uchiha

Commons

Sakura is near the middle of the hall, waving us over frantically, her voice lost amongst the shouts of the other students. I sense Naruto lagging behind and I grab his sleeve, dragging him along behind me. Another gunshot pierces the air and the entire student body ducks and screams. The bullet makes a loud metal ping as it richochets off a water fountain and makes a bee-line straight towards Sakura.

Don't ask me how I'm seeing these things, I just am.

It hits her in the calf and she emit's a startled cry as her leg gives way beneath her. I, Sasuke Uchiha -prodigy of the Uchiha family, damn near piss my pants as I see red liquid stain through her jeans and form a puddle on the floor.

I skid to my knees next to her, bringing Naruto with me, and instinctively cover our heads with my arm to protect us from trampling feet and stray bullets. The hall is somewhat clear now, most of the students are hiding in classes and other hallways. I glance up when I hear footsteps approach, the soft jingle of the metal on his combat boots.

"All you motherfuckers stay on the ground, you hear me! Or I'll blow your fucking brains out!" the shooter yells, gun aiming wildly at what was left of the people in the hall. I was in no position to argue so I tried my best to soothe my sobbing friend while Naruto applied pressure to her leg to stop the bleeding.

And I kept my head down.

* * *

12:23

Naruto Uzumaki

Commons

It had been awhile since the first shot brought all of our worlds crashing down around us. I lay trapped in the hallway, a gun pointed at my prone form. Out of the corner of my eye, I study Gaara. He was pacing back and forth, chewing at a thumbnail which I could see was raw and bloody.

I knew him.

He was one of those people who you saw everyday but never interacted with. We even had the same art class.

"You all brought this on yourself," --his voice cracked, it was unsteady-- "I didn't want to have to hurt you. You brought this on yourself."

He emitted a whimper at the end, his body rocking back and forth in place. I just hoped he didn't get too hysterical and start shooting again.

I glance over at a guy named Dosu whom blood flowed out at a steady pace from his chest. His breathing was harsh and strained, his coughing coming more frequently as air fought to stay in his lungs. The bullet had probably pierced his lung and the other was collapsing in the effort to keep him alive. He was drowning from the inside.

What a way to go.

He was the only one foolish enough to try and get up after Gaara had said stay down.

"Gaara please, put the gun down," a blonde-haired girl pleaded, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. Sirens suddenly interrupted the semi-quiet and the sound of running feet could be heard down the hall.

"Drop the weapon now!" a deep voice boomed out, a series of loud clicks erupting soon after as about 20 police officers surrounded us.

I mustered up enough courage to look up into the eyes of our attacker. He was crying freely, his crimson hair whipping back and forth as he shook his head repetitively. I try to imagine what is going on in his head, what he must be thinking. Try as I might, I could not.

"Hey, it's okay," I murmur reassuredly, hoping he would listen to some sort of reason, regardless of how far gone he already was.

He stares at me through blurry eyes and, to this day, I swear he mouthed the words "thank you" to me. He suddenly brings the gun to his forehead, gripping the barrel with both shaking hands, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"I just wanted to be loved. That's all I ever wished for."

His thumb presses slightly on the trigger and the sudden silence is ripped through by the loud discharge of the bullet. I witness the hot metal cylinder exit out the other side of his skull and embed itself deep into the concrete wall opposite of him, blood and brain matter splattering around it in a morbid, gruesome halo.

He just blew his head off and I knew the image was forever going to haunt me till the day I die. It's something you never really get over seeing. He falls heavily to the linoleum, his sister's cries, the blond one from before, the only sounds in the hallway.

After that everything seemed to float in a haze, paramedics and police rushed in and carted everyone off. I stayed, forgotten momentarily in the hectic commotion, and watched as they covered Gaara and Dosu's still forms with sheets, that immediately began to soak up the blood.

I managed to stagger outside, Sasuke clinging to my shoulder and crying silently. It was still very unnerving to see him cry, something I've never witnessed before. I wrap an arm around him, not sure how to comfort him at this point in time.

A light snow was falling, already coating the grounds in a blanket of white but to me the soft flakes only seem to be tinged with red. I think the most I had ever said to Gaara was, "Could you pass the orange paint?"

Now I wish I had said more.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, now I've depressed myself greatly. If there's any questions or comments you have about the story or characters involved, feel free to PM me or review and I'll respond in turn.**

**Naruto Shippuuden Anime Spoilers:**

**He's alive!! I am ecstatic.**

**A banana split (with lots of cherries) is calling out to me so now I bid you farewell.**


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